Hawks come up one point short against Saints

If heart and desire won football games, the Prairie Central Hawks would have come away with a victory Friday night.

Unfortunately, the Hawks didn’t find that heart and desire soon enough as Central Catholic held off the Hawks 22-21 in a Corn Belt Conference tilt at Lewis Field.

The Saints did all their scoring in the first half in building a 22-15 halftime advantage. The BCC defense allowed one score in the second half but came up when it had to in stopping any further PC scoring.

The last Prairie Central came in the third quarter. Matt Hartke finished off a 25-yard dash to the end zone by diving to paydirt. The extra point kick was missed wide to the right and the Hawks trailed 22-21 midway through the third quarter.

Seemingly, there was plenty of time to take the lead. Adding to that thought process was a defense that played the second half with the newfound sense of heart and desire.

“Our defense stepped up and played great in the second half,” PC head coach Brian Hassett said. “I’m really proud of the guys and the way they didn’t quit. We are a young team and you can see them starting to find that desire.”

The Hawk defense took over in the second half by creating two turnovers —an interception by Garrett Taylor and a fumble recovery by Ed Shafer. Shafer led the PC charge on the night with 15 tackles and one sack.

But Central Catholic’s defense also stiffened after the Hawks closed to within one. The Saints did not allow PC anything else.

The first half did show Prairie Central’s ability to answer the call.

BCC scored the game’s first points in the opening stanza. It helped the visitors that the Hawks defense couldn’t stop sophomore running back Brett Segobiano.

Segobiano started the Saints scoring with a 3-yard plunge midway through the first quarter to put the Saints up 6-0.

Prairie Central responded on its very next play as quarterback Jordan Spangler hit Matt Hartke for a 60-yard touchdown play. Spangler then hit Brandon Riedel on the two-point conversion that gave the Hawks their only lead of the night at 8-6.

Segobiano struck again, this time scoring from 11 yards out as the first quarter was winding down. Quarterback Grant Glowacki ran in the two-point conversion to give the Saints a 14-8 lead heading into the second frame.

Page 2 of 2 - The lead increased when Glowacki plunged in from the 1 yard line. Segobiano’s two-point conversion run proved critical as it ended the scoring on the night for the Saints.

Segobiano on the night ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns on 32 carries for the Saints (1-2, 1-1).

Again, the Hawks had an answer. Devin Crews sprinted 60 yards on PC’s first play from scrimmage on the following series to cut the lead to 22-15 heading into the halftime break.

“We hit a couple of big plays for scores,” Hassett said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t sustain a long drive and punch it in the end zone when we needed to.”

The Hawks (0-3, 0-2) were led in rushing by Crews and Hartke who gained 85 and 65 yards respectively. Spangler ended the night completing 6 passes on 16 attempts for 116 yards and one touchdown.